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Glasses filled with whiskey and ice, garnished with an orange, wait to be tasted by whiskey lovers... [+] at a New York whiskey tasting event.

(Getty)

The whisky industry is growing like gangbusters.

Earlier this month, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs of the United Kingdom (UK) reported Scotch whisky exports set new records during 2018.

Last year, the export value of all Scotch whisky exports reached 4.7 billion British pounds ($6.057 billion), a 7.8% jump over the previous record set in 2017. The export volume also set a new record with the equivalent of 1.28 billion 70-centiliter (cl) bottles, a 3.6% increase over the previous year, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

The U.S. continues to be the largest market for scotch, buying 1.03 billion British pounds of liquid gold. France came in second with 442 pounds. Yet, France brought in more volume 188 million 70-cl bottles vs. 137 million to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the American whiskey market has powered on. U.S. whiskey distillers’ revenues hit $3.4 billion, 52% growth in five years. American volumes grew 37% over that period.

It's not just the big companies increasing their volume; there's been a slew of new whiskies that many people have never heard of. This has created a need for more whiskey tasking festivals. As if someone needed a reason to create a whiskey festival.

New York City will be the setting for many festivals this year. Here are four that are about more than just getting drunk.

The Harlem Whisky Renaissance

The Harlem Whisky Renaissance is both a celebration of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, and the subsequent renaissance in the 2010s. The 1920s were the period of both the Jazz Age and Prohibition. And the Harlem Renaissance was a period of both economic and artistic growth for the black community. Writers Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and jazz great Duke Ellington came out of the Harlem Renaissance.

Attorney Tanya Robinson spent 10 years working at the famous Astor Wines near Astor Place in Greenwich Village helping put on events. She'd seen whiskey tastings blossom in Midtown, but there was nothing in Harlem, which was going through another resurgence. Together with Ellie Tam - an IT professional who had been running her own series of whiskey tastings - Robinson decided to create an event to celebrate Harlem's past and present with the fuel of Prohibition, whiskey.

Held May 3 in the Museum of the City of New York on Fifth Avenue, she presents a unique setting that sits across the street from the Boys and Girls Harbor, the charity that receives all the proceeds from the event.

Whiskey vendors pay $500 for a table where they give away free booze to the attendees. It's not just a line of tastings. It's a party, with a jazz band called Dandy Wellington, and people dressing up like the Roaring 20s.

The focus is on small-craft producers, like Balblair, Isle of Arran, and Hudson Whiskey, but big boys like Johnny Walker, Crown Royal, The Glenlivit and Heaven Hill are also sponsors

Which leads to the business question: What's the return on investment for the whiskey maker? In addition to the cost of the festival, there's travel expenses and of course, the many bottles poured for free.

New York State liquor laws don't allow bottles to be sold at these events. So, the producers are hoping the guests remember the name of the spirit they liked the best as they leave in a drunken stupor.

Robinson, the attorney, got around that by giving a local liquor store, Pompette Wine Shop, a booth. Pompette, which means "tipsy" in French, takes orders throughout the night and delivers the bottles the next day. That's one way she adds value over the other tastings, by helping the producers make hard sales immediately.

"I'm a numbers guy and it always frustrates me that we can't say we're going to spend $25,000 on festivals and we're going to get something out of it," said John Little, chief executive and head distiller at Smooth Ambler Spirits in Maxwelton, W.V. "But the reality of it is, we just don't know. If we're in front of a crowd we haven't been in front of in the past, and we feel it's good with our brand, then we go.

"It seems like a terrible way to run your business. Where you're spending money and you don't know the return on investment (ROI)," said Little. "But the brand has to be seen, and be in front of people who haven't seen you before and are choosing to be there. And that's our feeling on the smaller whiskey festivals like the Harlem Renaissance."

Water of Life Festival

Another festival based around a charity is the Water of Life Festival, which has the catchphrase, "Drink Whisky to Fight Cancer." Dr. Matthew Lurin, created the festival in honor of his stepfather, the man who introduced him to whiskey and was later diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

"Ours is the most unique of all the whiskey shows out there," said Lurin. "We do something called Whiskey Speed Dating."

Each brand gets a round table and five guests sit down for a date. The guests get three pours and after 12 minutes, the loudspeakers tell them to move to their next date, a brand at another table. During the course of the evening, it's possible to sit at 13 tables and taste 39 different whiskies. The ticket includes a half-hour dinner with dessert and cigar breaks. Vendors pay between $500 and $750 for a table. The event takes place May 16 at Pennsy, a high-end food hall above Penn Station. Standard tickets are $250 and VIP tickets are $400. And 100% of ticket can be written off on your taxes.

This festival also pairs with a local liquor store, which give attendees 15% off all whiskey purchases until the end of the weekend. Part of that is contributed to the charity as well.

"And that's how we show that after our show people actually buy whiskies," said Lurin. "It's encouraging to the brand to know they are moving product that weekend."

Lurin said about half the attendees come from medical professionals he knows, instead of the same old whiskey crowd. The advantage to the brands is this introduces them to a new audience.

He also runs another event, the night before, where a $1,000 ticket gives the attendees access to premium, and rare, aged spirits that can cost upwards of $1,000 a bottle.

"If you look at the festival cost vs. the cost of doing print media or any other type of advertisement, the festival is less expensive for the whiskey maker," said Doug Miller, lecturer at the S.C. Johnson College of Business at Cornell University. "They're pushing the brand name and they're reaching their direct audience. Pretty much everyone who goes to the event is interested in whiskey. So there is a direct return on their investment as opposed to a print media ad."

Miller said that despite getting drunk, the attendees remember the experience, especially if there's something unusual, such as a man in a kilt speaking Scottish. This will remind them of the brand when they enter a liquor store.

Kiddushfest/Whisky Jewbilee

This is the only kosher whiskey festival. It started when Whiskey Fest in New York City changed the day of its event from a weeknight to the weekend. Considering that a large Jewish community patronized the event, many were unable to attend because it was held on their Sabbath.

"Whiskey Fest was always more black hats and beards than kilts in the show," said Joshua Hatton, president and chief executive of an independent bottler called Jewish Whiskey Company. It produces whiskey under the brand Single Cask Nation.

Because the Kosher community had nowhere to go, people reached out to Hatton and his partner to create something new in 2012. This became Whisky Jewbilee. They made sure the food was kosher, but whiskey was always the focus of the show. Vendor tables cost $500.

After seven successful years, Hatton and his partner decided to focus on their whiskey brand and stopped running the festival. Ari White, Whisky Jewbilee's original caterer, and owner of the Wandering Que, a kosher barbeque service, decided to continue serving this audience, and created a new event, Kiddushfest, Worlds of Whisky, Brew and Que.

It will be held in Battery Park on June 19 and will be the only kosher whiskey event in the city. White plans to serve a full herring and caviar bar, brisket, and of course, his signature barbeque. Tickets are $136 per person and the event will serve whiskey, microbrews and cigars from 45 vendors.

Hatton says there's no direct line to measuring the return on investment and brands are reassessing which shows to attend. This is a big problem and causing more exhibitors to pull away from events and more festivals consolidating, he said.

"Everyone looks at return on investment differently," said Rick Kiley, founding partner of SOHO Experiential, a marketing agency that specializes in organizing events for alcohol beverages, such as Macallan Scotch. He said the brands want to deliver their product to as many people as possible in an efficient way.

"The challenge with these whiskey festivals is there is a lot of competition for share of mouths and they look for a way to stand out," said Kiley. Many are looking to get liquid to the lips of people who already like drinking whiskey. They want to fish where the fish are, and a lot of people who love whiskey are at these events.

He said ROI is harder to quantify for the more established brands. They may participate to maintain their place as a market leader.

Whiskey and Barrel Night

Dave Sweet ran Whisky Live, a franchised event, owned by Whisky Magazine. He recently created his own event and rebranded it Whiskey and Barrel Night. The first was held last night, Feb. 27.

Sweet said he tries to make his events more interactive than just a tasting. He tries to drive consumers to engage with the product and help them become a more educated consumer. He had about 75 vendors and charged $1,500 for a table. The New York event was held at the Metropolitan Pavilion and tickets cost $135. His next event is in Sarasota, Fla. April 12. He plans to return to New York next February.

Sweet said the ROI for vendors is that they get to meet industry people, build their brand and open new accounts.

"We participate in trade shows when our budgets allow because they are a great networking opportunity for our sales team to connect to new bartenders and beverage managers that they’re not meeting in their day-to-day pavement pounding and cold outreach," said Ashley Purdum, director of public relations and marketing at brand management agency Night After Night, which works with Jameson Irish Whiskey.

Purdum said it's hard to see a direct return on investment, with some festivals charging as much as $5,000 a table, but the company considers distribution as marketing.

"So the more bars that we can get to bring on even a single case of our product through meeting those decision-makers at these events, the more we will grow our footprint and raise awareness overall," said Purdum.